On 12 April, it was announced
that four telco companies have signed an agreement to create the world’s first Global
Telco Security Alliance offering enterprises access to a comprehensive
portfolio of cyber security services.
The objective of the Alliance is to provide a robust cyber
security platform to protect customers around the globe and allow them to
thrive in the digital economy.
The four telco companies that joined hands to deliver security
services for digital risk management are Etisalat, Singtel, Softbank and
Telefónica. Combined capabilities within Alliance will create one of the
world’s leading managed security services platforms, serving a combined
customer base of more than 1.2 billion customers in over 60 countries across
Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and the Americas.
With the emergence of digital technologies and their
widespread adoption, the security landscape is seeing new threats as well as
the importance of digital risk management.
Mr Arthur Wong, Chief Executive Officer of Global Cyber
Security at Singtel, said that there is increasing need for “swift and coordinated
global responses to defend enterprises that operate across transnational
borders as cyber threats are increasing in frequency, scale and sophistication”.
As such, the establishment of the Alliance is a timely response from some of the
world's largest network of operators to strengthen defence against these
attacks.
Between the four founding members of the Alliance, they
operate 22 world-class Security Operation Centres (SOCs) and employ more than
6,000 cyber security experts. Through their extensive resources and
capabilities, which will expand as the alliance brings in more members, the
group can better protect enterprises against rising cyber security risks as the
information security environment becomes increasingly complex.
Under the agreement, the group will share network
intelligence on cyber threats and leverage their joint global reach, assets and
cyber security capabilities to serve customers worldwide.
Leveraging each member’s respective geographic footprint and
expertise, the alliance is able to support each other’s customers anywhere and
anytime, allowing them to respond rapidly to any cyber security threats.
Alliance members will also be able to pass the benefits of
operational synergies and economies of scale to their customers in terms of
lower costs.
To enhance their cyber security portfolio, the
members will also be developing a joint technology roadmap to create advanced
cyber security applications for the Internet of Things (IoT) as well as
solutions that use predictive analytics and machine learning. The alliance will
also consider joint investments in SOCs, cyber security platforms and
innovative start-ups.